CC senior, a Thai native, responds to tsunami

Aim Sinpeng '05

Aim Sinpeng ’05 of Thailand was in New York City visiting a friend when she first heard that a natural disaster had struck her native country Dec. 26. It was late at night and she was getting ready for bed.

“I thought it was an earthquake,” she said, only hearing part of the story. “I didn’t quite grasp the news at first and thought I’d check the world news in the morning.”

Sinpeng was shocked to learn that 12 countries experienced devastating losses when the tsunami tore through southern Asia causing earthquakes and tidal waves that killed 165,000, by latest counts.

A senior, Sinpeng is enrolled in the College’s Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and the Liberal Arts (CISLA) and is studying international relations, Slavic studies and economics. She immediately contacted her parents in Bangkok to make sure her family and friends were OK. Fortunately, no one she knew personally was harmed, including her brother, who works in the southern end of Thailand. Her parents, who live 12 hours away by car from the affected area, felt the earthquake tremors.

But the enormity of the disaster resonated deeply with Sinpeng and her feelings of frustration and helplessness grew from being so far from home. A Buddhist, she said she “sought faith” and watched the news constantly for updates. She even contacted volunteer organizations to see if there was a way for her to return to Thailand and lend aid.

The College has heard from other CC students and alums with ties to the area devastated by the tsunami.

“The term ‘family’… is much more broadly defined in Asia than in the United States, so honestly, this is something that has affected most Thais regardless of where we physically live,” Mach Arom ’89 wrote in an e-mail to the Office of Alumni Relations.

Sinpeng, who is working on campus in the Office of Volunteers for Community Service during winter break, sought the advice of a friend she met as a first-year student. She visited Beverly Kowal ’90, associate dean of the College, international student adviser and interim dean of religious and spiritual life, for advice.

“I felt so torn apart and helpless. But I realized that wherever I am I can do something,” Sinpeng said. “It’s time to stop and reflect on what happened and act as a member of the world community in response to the disaster.”

And Sinpeng is doing just that. In collaboration with CC administration, she is organizing a memorial service on campus with representation from five faith groups. Religious figures, CC College faculty, staff and students will be taking part. The event is scheduled for Jan. 24 at noon.

“We felt that it was very important to do something as a community in response to this disaster that is barely imaginable to us a world away,” said Carolyn Patierno, a CC chaplain. “When a disaster occurs, it’s so important that communities come together and create a place to put all of those emotions and emotional responses so people don’t feel alone. This is to build some hope among the community and mourn together.”

Patierno, who first met Sinpeng as a sophomore and is a part of her local host family, said, “Aim has done a remarkable job in the shadow of tremendous grief to make happen what she has envisioned. That’s the best thing we can do when we’re grieving, to use that energy in a positive way.”

In addition to the service, Sinpeng has compiled a list of rescue and relief organizations and is coordinating fundraising efforts to contribute to those groups. She has been in frequent contact with her family, trying to grasp as much as she can about the needs of the people living in the disaster’s aftermath.

Right now, volunteers are flooding the affected countries and while their efforts are well-intended, sometimes they are not directed where aid is needed most. Sinpeng suggested that those who want to help, either through volunteer work or donations, contact an established nonprofit.

The Thai government, she said, asked people to donate the money they had planned to spend on any New Year’s celebrations to the relief effort instead.

“People are sad, but people aren’t mourning,” she said. “They’re picking up the pieces and moving on with their lives. They want to move on.”

Sinpeng, who hasn’t seen her parents in two years, is going home in March during spring break.

“I want to go and observe and see how people are feeling,” she said.